SAPAC honors Take A Stand 'Stand-Outs'

By Kim Broekhuizen
Office of the Vice President for Communications

The Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center (SAPAC) has announced the recipients of its first annual Take a Stand "Stand-Outs" honors, recognizing members of the U-M and Ann Arbor communities who show dedication and innovation in the fight against sexual violence.

SAPAC is honoring nominees in three categories. The first is Spotlight on Education, which recognizes individuals who create, use and share network connections in new ways, reach out to populations outside of the traditional scope of current programming, and are vocal advocates in the fight against sexual violence:

• Randi Johnson, University HousingAs campus outreach coordinator and chair of the Tamara Williams Memorial Lecture committee, Johnson has coordinated a series that raises awareness of sexual and domestic violence issues in both the campus and world communities. The annual lecture honors the life of Williams, family housing resident and undergraduate who was murdered on campus in October 1997.

• Emily Dixon, undergraduate student and SAPAC volunteer peer educatorDixon has worked as a peer educator for two years. She devotes many hours to educating different student groups on campus, and works hard to establish and maintain relationships with faculty, clubs, teams and organizations that might be interested in learning about sexual assault and how to prevent it.

Spotlight on Advocacy, the second category, recognizes individuals who ensure that the special needs of survivors are honored within the various institutional systems. They also are willing to advocate policies and programs that are sensitive to survivors' needs:

• Lisa Scheiman, U-M Health SystemScheiman has been a member of the University's Nurse-Midwifery Service since 1993, caring for survivors of sexual assault. She has coordinated the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners program for the past three years and ensures that nurses, midwives and physician's assistants are available 24 hours, 7 days a week to care for survivors of sexual assault in a proficient and compassionate way. In 2004, Scheiman was appointed liaison to the vice president for student affairs on issues relating to sexual violence on campus, and she works to improve communication between the University, students and the Ann Arbor community.

SAPAC also is recognizing the contribution of individuals or organizations that play a unique role in furthering the mission of the center:

• Cookie Mankowski and Greg Harden, Department of AthleticsWith the assistance of Mankowski and Harden, SAPAC was able effectively to bring its message of ending sexual violence to students and staff in the Athletic Department.

• Stephanie Pinder-Amaker, associate dean of studentsPinder-Amaker supports SAPAC on sexual violence issues and offers support and academic advocacy to sexual violence survivors. As the Division of Student Affairs leadership person for SAPAC, she excels at advocating campus educational initiatives on sexual violence.